Wyeth increases presence in SR4.8nn Saudi drug market

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest markets in the Middle East with drug expenditure reaching SR4.8bn, accounting for 65% of the entire gulf region.

The Kingdom's explosive growth is mainly driven by rise in population, healthcare modernization and changes to the health insurance scheme with an emphasis on private provision.

"Saudi Arabia is a market with huge potential and there is no sign that it's fast pace of growth will slow down soon. With the opening of this new office, Wyeth is reinforcing its long-standing commitment to the market and looking forward to the promising future," said Mr. Rune Bremberg, Group Vice President, Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East region, at the opening of the new office.

"Wyeth has a long history in Saudi, having been here for 50 years. Over the years, the company has experienced strong growth in the Kingdom with sales in 2007 exceeding SR350m," added Tarek Youssef, Operational Director in Saudi.

Globally, Wyeth's net revenue increased 10% to SR84bn ($22.4bn) in 2007. This keeps Wyeth as one of the largest and fastest growing, research-driven pharmaceutical companies in the world with a large product portfolio covering a wide range of therapeutic areas including women's health care, neuroscience, musculoskeletal disorders, vaccines, infectious diseases, hemophilia, immunology, oncology and infant formulae.

Speaking about Wyeth's key focus in Saudi Arabia, Joe Henein - Managing Director, Wyeth MENA said: "Wyeth is committed to ensuring that our products reach the patients who need them most. This especially includes Prevenar, Wyeth's vaccine against invasive Pneumococcal Diseases like Meningitis and Pneumonia in children, and Enbrel, for the thousands of patients who are crippled by rheumatoid arthritis."

The World Health Organization recently ranked Pneumococcal Diseases, which kill up to a million children worldwide every year, as a "Very High Priority" globally among diseases that can be prevented by a vaccine. The organization made a preliminary recommendation that Pneumococcal Disease and Malaria be ranked as the highest public health priorities globally.

This ranking joins the 2007 March WHO announcement recommending priority inclusion of Prevenar in national immunization programs worldwide, and reaffirms the importance of Prevenar in helping to reduce child mortality and morbidity.

At present, Wyeth is operating in Saudi Arabia through their scientific offices in Jeddah and Riyadh and through its distributors Saudi Arabian Drug Store, Saudi Import Company (Banaja) and Al Nahda. Wyeth's key brands available in Saudi Arabia include Enbrel, Prevenar, Effexor, Rapamune, Tazocin, Tygacil, S-26 Gold, Promil Gold & Progress Gold.